Wilkin & Sons
Main factory entrance
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| Private | |
| Industry | Food manufacture |
| Predecessor | Britannia Fruit Preserving Company |
| Founded | 1885 |
| Founder | Arthur Charles Wilkin |
| Headquarters | Tiptree, Essex, England |
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Area served
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Global |
| Products | Preserves, Jams, Marmalades, Christmas Puddings, Honey, Sauces, Chutneys, Tea, Curds, Fruit Juices, Fruit Gin Liqueurs |
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Number of employees
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220 |
| Website | www |
Wilkin & Sons Limited established in Tiptree, Essex, England in 1885, makes preserves, marmalades and associated products.
The Wilkin family came to Tiptree, Essex and started farming at Trewlands farm in the early 1700s. By 1865, the farm was beginning to move from arable crops to fruit, which were shipped to markets in London. From 1904 this was via the Kelvedon and Tollesbury Light Railway, with the company providing most of the freight traffic at Tiptree station until its closure in 1962.
After Prime Minister William Ewart Gladstone commended fruit preserving to the British population, Arthur Charles Wilkin founded the Britannia Fruit Preserving Company in 1885. This produced the first "Tiptree" branded preserves, with all production sold that year to a merchant who shipped it to Australia. 10 years later 400 seasonal pickers were annually harvesting 200 tons of fruit, of which half was turned into jam and preserves.
Reformed as Wilkin & Sons, the company leased farms as far away as Dagenham and Suffolk. By 1906, the company owned 800 acres (320 ha) of land on farms in Tiptree, Tollesbury and Goldhanger producing 300 tons of fruit per year, and feeding a factory capable at peak production of making 10 tons of strawberry jam per day. The company has held a Royal Warrant for preserves and marmalades continuously since 1911.
With the need for a pound of sugar to a pound of fruit to produce 2 lb of preserves, production was halted during World War I due to a lack of essential supplies. But by 1922, and now owning 1,000 acres (400 ha) of farmland across eight farms, the company was creating new record outputs of fruit and preserves. An integrated production facility, the company also owned 100 houses, the village's windmill and blacksmith’s forge, the Factory Club and the freehold of the Salvation Army hall.
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Wikipedia